This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Costa Rica relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons.
Note that any work originating in Costa Rica must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Costa Rica and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Costa Rica, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 6683 of October 14, 1982, on Copyright and Related Rights (as amended up to Law No. 8834 of May 3, 2010) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Costa Rica.[1]
WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.[2]

General rules

According to Law Nº 6683 as amended up to 2010,

Copyright lasts for the life of the author and 70 years after their death.[6683/2010 Article 58]

When the duration of protection of a work is calculated on a basis other than the life of a natural person, this duration shall be:

70 years from the year of publication.[6683/2010 Article 58(a)]

If publication does not occur within 70 years from creation, protection lasts 70 years from the year the work was first made available to the public.[6683/2010 Article 58(b)]

If the work was neither published not made available to the public with 70 years from creation, it is protected for 70 years from creation.[6683/2010 Article 58(c)]*With collaborative works the term of 70 years is counted from the death of the last co-author.[6683/2010 Article 59]

Dictionaries, encyclopedias and other collective works are protected for 70 years from publication.[6683/2010 Article 60]

Anonymous and pseudonymous works are protected for 70 years from publication.[6683/2010 Article 62]

The terms of protection given above are counted from 31 December of the year of the event that started them.[6683/2010 Article 65]

Government works

According to Costa Rica's intellectual property law (Law 6683, as amended by Law 8834 of 3 May 2010):

Everyone is allowed to freely reproduce constitutions, laws, decrees, municipal agreements, regulations and other public acts, as long as they strictly conform to the official edition. Individuals can also publish the codes and legislative collections, with notes and comments, and each author will own their own work.[6683/2010 Article 75]

The State, municipal councils and official corporations shall enjoy the protection of this law, but with regard to economic rights, they shall have them for only 25 years from publication of the work, except in the case of public entities, whose purpose is the exercise of these rights as an ordinary activity; in which case the protection will be 50 years.[6683/2010 Article 63]

Currency

The Central Bank of Costa Rica (Banco Central de Costa Rica) is the "copyright holder of Costa Rica’s currency design -protected under Law No. 6683"[3]
According to Costa Rica's intellectual property law (Law 6683, as amended by Law 8834 of 3 May 2010):

The State, the municipal councils and the official corporations shall enjoy the protection of this Law, but, as far as economic rights are concerned, only for 25 years from the date of publication of the work, except in the case of public bodies whose purpose is the exercise of such rights as their normal activity, in which case protection shall be for 50 years.[6683/2010 Article 63]

Freedom of panorama

Not OK: According to Law Nº 6683 as amended up to 2010, only non-commercial use is allowed:

It is lawful make reproductions by photographic or other pictorial processes, when this reproduction is non-commercial, of statues, monuments and other works of art protected by copyright, acquired by the government, exposed in the streets, gardens and museums.[6683/2010 Article 71]

Stamps

The basic copyright law of Costa Rica is: Ley Nº 6683 - Ley de Derechos de Autor y Derechos Conexos. There are no specific provision for copyrights of postage stamps, but all works are copyrighted until 70 years after the author's death. In the case of government agencies and other public entities the copyrights of official works expired after 25 years, and in special cases after 50 years (i.e. books), both since the original publication date.

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer